This is the Velvet Worm, phylum Onycophora. These worms actually bear live young.
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« Nick Sears: Presenting the Orb | Main | duck-billed platypus »
Burgess Fauna Alive
Category: Organisms
Posted on: December 12, 2008 10:12 PM, by Greg Laden
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Comments
It's kinda cute. I was hoping, after reading the comment about birthing live young, that that would be on the video.
Posted by: Gallstones | December 13, 2008 2:13 AM
at 00:14 in the video, the worm appears to eject a liquid. Are they known to spray any sort of toxin or distractant?
Posted by: Virgil Samms | December 13, 2008 9:27 AM
Yes!
They eject a slime potentially quite far that either catches prey or deters predators. Once the prey is slimed and thus partly immobilized, the worm moves in and uses its mandibles to tear a hole. Then it injects a second liquid, which is toxic, into the hole. The toxic liquid included digestive enzymes, so later the worm can suck the digesting tissues of the prey out of the aforementioned hole.
Posted by: Greg Laden | December 13, 2008 9:48 AM